


painting the roses red

by notthebigspoon



Series: Who Ya Gonna Call? [20]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010), Supernatural
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-03
Updated: 2012-09-03
Packaged: 2017-11-13 12:17:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/503465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notthebigspoon/pseuds/notthebigspoon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Uncle Zhul?”</p><p>	“Yeah?”</p><p>	“Where's Uncle Dean?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	painting the roses red

“Uncle Zhul?”

“Yeah?”

“Where's Uncle Dean?”

Zhul McGarrett is blue. He is pyrokinetic. He is more than a little unstable. He is not, however, invincible. When Gracie asks where his boyfriend is, he grips his glass of coke and rum a shade too tight and it shatters in his hand. The glass slices into his palm, red welling up and oozing over his skin. He curses, dropping the shards and fumbling a hand out for a dish towel to press against it.

His niece is a tough little bird but there's a difference between knowing someone is hurt and making yourself be strong and actually seeing the damage done. She takes one look at the blood and starts crying. He tries to tell her it's okay, it's just a cut and he's fine, but she doesn't appear to be buying it. Still, his 'I'm in charge' voice has some effect and when he kindly but firmly tells her to go wait in the living room while he cleans up the mess, she sniffles and nods. He has no doubt that the first thing she's going to do is call Danny.

Sometimes he thinks that they think it's Gracie's job to babysit him just as much as it's his job to babysit her.

He sighs and runs his hand under water, wincing and flinching at the way it stings. He pats it dry, grabs the first aid kit from underneath the sink and wraps his palm. It's not as bad as it looks, just a simple slice, nothing more. He tapes the gauze down and moves to the island, popping the lid off the trash can and carefully sweeping the glass shards into it. He mops the stray soda and booze up with a dish towel that he pitches into the laundry room.

When he goes into the living room and sits down next to Gracie on the couch, placing a Capri Sun and a stack of cookies in front of her, she's indeed on the phone. She's not crying anymore, just the occasional sniffle until she finally tells her dad she love him and hangs up. She gives Zhul and anxious look, grabbing his wrist and turning his hand back and forth.

“I'm fine kiddo. Just a flesh wound.”

“You sure? Doesn't it hurt?”

“A little bit but it's fine, I promise. Just an accident.”

“Because I asked about Uncle Dean.” She says, and her lip starts trembling. He's handling this all wrong.

He shakes his head, wraps an arm around her shoulder and pulls her in close, kissing the top of her head. “It's not your fault, Gracie, it's not because you asked about Uncle Dean. I just wasn't very careful, that's all.”

“I saw your face. You look like Daddy does when Uncle Steve has done something stupid.”

Zhul doesn't bother smothering his smile. Gracie's frame of reference for the situation is pretty spot on, though Danny has never physically injured himself over Steve's idiocy that Zhul knows of. He thinks it over before letting out a breath.

“Uncle Dean is working. I didn't want him to go.”

“Why?”

“Because I'm afraid he'll get hurt, just like your dad is afraid Uncle Steve will get hurt.

“But...” She frowns, looking up at him in clear confusion. “But Uncle Steve always comes back. Even if he gets hurt. So does Daddy. So Uncle Dean will too, right?”

Zhul misses that, being young enough to believe so absolutely when people make promises, being young enough to not know that those are promises that can't be kept with certainty. He's not going to take that away from her, the world will do that for him soon enough. He nods and drops a kiss to the top of her head, hugging her again.

“Yeah Gracie. Uncle Dean will come back.”


End file.
